2000-06-12 Managing Growth Development and Open Space Working Group.pdf

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remains open to the option of appropriate development on some acreage. Which sites are the highest priorities for protection? Which sites are appropriate for development? • Town Center. Our group calls for the town to create a zoning overlay district in the Center which would allow mixed-use development, more upper story commercial and residential development, and possibly a parking structure. But how much new Center development is appropriate without compromising what we cherish about town character? • Residential Development. Our group sees opportunity for a limited amount of new residential development(and redevelopment) to help maintain social and economic diversity within the town. Well-planned residential development(and redevelopment) is also viewed as a long-term way of making the town less automobile dependent and of encouraging a stronger regional transit network. How much new residential development is appropriate and where can and should it be located? How much re-zoning of existing residential neighborhoods to allow single-family residences to be redeveloped as small multi-family buildings is appropriate? How much more population can Lexington comfortably support? We believe that these are important questions for the town to continue to explore and seek to resolve in the ongoing process of managing growth and development. Costs and Fiscal Impacts There are substantial cost and fiscal issues for these and other choices related to our vision and goals. Our group has not had the resources to closely examine the costs or fiscal impacts of our vision and goals, nor do we believe that it should be our primary focus. However, we believe that many of the actions we call for in the Matrix can be accomplished with no cost to the town, or out of the town's operating budget at current spending levels. Some of the proposed public improvements may be accomplished through a combination of public and private funds, while others, such as the construction of new sidewalks, may require the town to approve a Proposition 2-1/2 override if they are to occur. However, actions proposed related to the town's acquisition of land for open space protection and for affordable housing production would require substantial amounts of additional public funding. We estimate that$50 to $100 million may be required from the town to carry out the land acquisition needed for these actions (mostly for open space protection), with additional funding needed from the state and federal government for affordable housing production. Our assumption is that the town will maximize efforts to protect additional open space by means of private gifts/bequests, negotiated land-use restrictions, and techniques other than outright acquisition, but that purchasing private land will continue to be necessary to meet our open space protection goal. In order to provide funds for land acquisition, we support the idea of a real estate transfer tax, pursuant to the enabling legislation currently under consideration on Beacon Hill, with funds specifically earmarked for open space protection and affordable housing production. In addition to possible funding for open space protection from the state, a portion of the needed funds could be provided through a tax override. The response to our Managing Managing Growth- 8